James McMillion is a native of Greenbrier county, West Virginia, born May 7, 1835. His parents, George L. and Elizabeth Hanna McMMillion, were born in Virginia, but came to Missouri in 1845, and located near where the subject of this sketch now lives,; the father died in 1848, and mother in 1878. From the time James was ten years of age, except for four years spent in the army, he has made Benton township his home: Till twenty-three years of age he remained with his mother and his only sister (now Mrs. Daniel Morris) and cared for them. On April 1st, 1858, he married: Miss Nancy E. Ellis, who was born in Daviess county, October 22, 1842. They became the parents of three children; named as follows: George R., born November 26, 1859; Mary E., born October 17, 1866; Lou Emma J.,. born December 6, 1868.. Mrs. McMillion died March 22, 1869. January 19, 1870, Mr. McMillion married Miss Margaret E. Meadows, who was born in Monroe county, Virginia, August 5, 1846; she was a daughter of Philip and Sallie Meadows. Her mother died January 7, 1876, and her father is still living. Five children have been the result of this union; named, Lewis A., born April 29, 1871; Sarah F., born September 9, 1873; Nancy N., born January 10, 1876; Lilly M., born June 17, 1878; and James J. H., born September 20, 1880, and died July 25, 1881.
Mr. McMillion enlisted September 22, 1861, and served with Child’s battalion six months and then, as a member of the First Confederate Missouri Cavalry, served till the close of the war. He is spoken of as having been an efficient and valiant soldier at Franklin, Tennessee, where he was severely wounded. He is a self-made man and one who together with his family, are highly esteemed. He is a leading member of the I. O. O. F., and the family are all members of the Methodist Episcopal Church.